sbra history

Sierra Blanca Regional Airport (SRR) is a relatively new airport, having been constructed in its existing location in 1987. Before that, SRR was known as Ruidoso Municipal Airport and was situated in the center of the Village of Ruidoso, where the Links at Sierra Golf Course, the Lodge at Sierra Blanca, the Ruidoso Convention Center, and the Ruidoso Middle School are located today.

Ruidoso Municipal Airport, which was also known as “Cree Meadows,” was established sometime between 1945 and 1958 and was listed in the 1963 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Airport Directory as “Cree Meadows.” The airport name was apparently changed soon after, as it was listed as Ruidoso Airport in the June 1964 Roswell Sectional Chart.

Aerial photos from 1967 show that this airport offered a 5,500’ paved runway, Runway 18-36, with a parallel taxiway on the east side, and several hangars on both the southeast and northwest sides of the runway (see Figure 1-1). According to airport users’ accounts, Ruidoso Municipal Airport was closed due to the difficulty of its approaches caused by the surrounding high terrain. The current airport location was chosen partly because of the existence of a dirt Military Emergency Landing Strip (MELS) on that site.